Morning Glory Enhanced Style Cat Drinking Fountain (10 Cup) Subtotal: $275.00
Subtotal: $275.00
Subtotal: $275.00
This has become a curiously common concern of late, primarily due to the number of cat fountain makers entering the market with new gimmicky ways of luring in customers and generating revenue. Let us be very clear right up front. Cat fountains do not need filters to run, cat fountains are better with at least mechanical filtration, and cat fountain filters do not need to and should not be elaborate. All this is explained in the following.
Type in “cat fountain filters” in Amazon and find dozens upon dozens of the different filters offered by the many makers of cat fountains. What most of these have in common is; they are comprised of a porous material through which water passes easily, they contain small amounts of carbon, or charcoal (same thing) inside, and they need frequent replacement. There are some now with various layers of minerals, silver particles and resins which are supposed to either purify the water or be ingested by your cat. Are these a good idea? Let’s see.
The outer, porous material serves as a mechanical filter. It prevents cat hair and other debris from entering the pump. This is a good thing as it helps keep the pump clean, lessening the frequency of cleanings, it helps keep the water clean and it adds to the longevity of the pump. For many households this is all the filtration needed.
With some cat fountain filters this is achieved with a sponge, or foam filter, others use fabric rather than a sponge of foam. Most, however are not very thick or dense so do not provide much filtration and need frequent replacement. This is in fact true of almost all cat fountain filters. ThirstyCat fountain sponge filters last from one to two years.
Most of the cat fountain filters of those brands sold on Amazon contain extremely small amounts of carbon, ( a few grams weight), also contributing to the need of frequent replacement – another revenue generating trick. Cat fountain brands make considerable profits from selling their filters because they need replacing every two weeks or so. (ThirstyCats’ carbon filters consist of 2, 20 gram sacs and last from 6 months to a year.)
Activated charcoal is an excellent purifier and is used in both hospitals and veterinary clinics to remove toxins. It can be ingested harmlessly so is often used if poisin has or is suspected of having been swallowed. The carbon filter simply needs to be in the water to be effective. In aquariums it is often hung over the side and dangles in the water.
In cat fountain filtration it is used to absorb unpleasant odors or tastes, which some water sources have. Well water for example can have unpleasant mineral odors. In city water chlorine can cause unpleasant odors and tastes and activated charcoal is good at absorbing those. Activated charcoal can remove some heavy metals, however those are rarely found in sufficient quantities to be a threat.
Cornell College Of Veterinary Medicine has this to say: “Although your cat needs certain amounts of each specific nutrient to be healthy, more is not always better. This is particularly true of vitamins and minerals, so the use of supplements is usually not necessary if you are feeding a balanced and complete diet. Supplements can be harmful to your cat, and they should never be given without a veterinarian’s approval. Cats should have access to clean, fresh water at all times.”
It should be noted that no cat fountain filter will prevent mineral deposits on the fountain. This comes from the water and can be controlled by using a filtration system on your water, which may or not be a good idea for your cats’ health. Here is a post on that subject.
If you do have ‘hard’ water, that is, water with a lot of minerals in it you will get deposits on any fountain and which are particularly noticeable on ceramic cat fountains. The good news is that the minerals, usually calcium, is easily removed. Here is a post on that.
With most cat fountain brands you will end up paying for another fountain, or three, over time, from the constant replacement of their filters, and some of these cat fountain filters may actually be harming your cats, either from the large proportion of plastic housing or other additives in the filters themselves. Your inexpensive fountain just became quite costly.
So, what do we recommend? Well, of course, our fountains and our cat fountain filters, but here’s why. Our foam, or sponge filters are made specifically for us and only us. They are dense and over an inch thick where water enters into the pump. They last at least a year and there is no reason they shouldn’t last 2 years. One comes with every fountain and replacements are about $10. So that’s $10/year, at most and very possibly, $5/year.
Our carbon filters, which we offer to those who need them and will soon be adding to all our fountains (but don’t need to be used in most cases), have about sixty times, by weight, the carbon of most other brands. It is pelleted, high density activated charcoal and is the best and most effective there is. This comes as two mesh bags,containing about 20 grams of carbon each. Each lasts from three to six months, providing from six months to a year of carbon filtering. These cost about $11 for the two.
So, along with the best of the best cat fountains come the best, least expensive and longest lasting cat fountain filters.
